Faced with the call from Sevilla after the dismissal of Argentine Jorge Sampaoli, Mendilibar responded and something more.
Within days, the Spanish side had eliminated Manchester Utd from the Europa League quarter-finals, scoring two spectacular late goals to salvage a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford before winning the second leg in Andalusia 3-0.
They then overcame Juventus in the semi-finals after extra time before going all the way in the final, beating Roma on penalties. It was a result that then-Roma manager Jose Mourinho insisted he would not acknowledge such was his frustration at Mendilibar’s having won the trophy and his belief that the result was unfair.
However, the honeymoon did not last long and he was relieved of his duties just four months later, after a poor start to the season.
Incredibly, 12 months later, he received another call, this time from Greece. Olympiakos needed a coach and Mendilibar accepted the challenge.
A few days later, he returned to continental competition and led the Greek giants to their first European final.
He had to outsmart continental specialist and compatriot Unai Emery along the way, beating his team Aston Villa in the Conference League semi-finals before creating more history by beating Fiorentina in the final in Athens.
This meant that Mendilibar followed Rafa Benítez in winning consecutive European trophies with two different clubs.
Perhaps most importantly, however, it meant a Greek club won a European honor for the first time and ended a 13-year dominance by the big four leagues in an era when those competitions and teams are becoming increasingly powerful.
Since Porto’s victory over Braga in the secondary tournament in Dublin in 2011, only clubs from Spain, England, Italy and Germany had won the Champions League, the Europa League and the Conference League. Until Olympiakos, of course.
That success tempered domestic disappointment for the club, which finished third in the Greek Super League behind champions PAOK, which won the title for the fourth time, and neighbors AEK Athens.
football/articles/crln00w7dpyo”>Source link
